Twelve people were killed Sunday after a plane packed with skydivers crashed near Kansas City in a horrifying midair disaster.
Eleven skydivers and the pilot all died after the private aircraft went down in Missouri shortly after taking off from Butler Memorial Airport around 11:30 a.m. local time.
The plane reportedly made a sudden turn for unknown reasons near Business 49 Highway before crashing moments later, leaving behind smoking wreckage in a grassy field as emergency crews rushed to the scene.
Everyone on board was killed.
Officials have not yet said what caused the aircraft to turn back or whether any of the skydivers were able to jump from the doomed plane before it plunged to the ground.
The devastating crash triggered a major emergency response, with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board sending investigators to the scene.
Business 49 Highway was shut down near the airport as crews worked to secure the wreckage and begin the grim task of figuring out what went wrong.
The Bates County Sheriff’s Office said all lanes were closed while authorities handled the crash site.
The tragedy has left the local skydiving community shaken as investigators search for answers in one of the deadliest small-plane crashes in the region in recent memory.
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